The invention relates to a probe for use in an inspection device for inspecting the electrical characteristics of a circuit board, etc. and to a method of manufacturing the probe.
As probes, a spring probe and a cantilever probe are known. The spring probe is brought into contact with an electrode, etc. to measure electrical characteristics of a circuit board and a device upon their inspection. The cantilever probe is used to intentionally flaw a thin oxide film covering an electrode by means of a pointed portion at the forward end thereof to reduce the contact resistance of the film before measuring the electrical characteristics thereof. As the configurations of the forward end of such the probes, there are known, for example, a flat configuration, a conical configuration, a pyramidal configuration, a rounded configuration, a crown-shaped configuration, and a cup-shaped configuration (see FIG. 9). The probe with the crown-shaped configuration, the cup-shaped configuration, or the like is used mainly for the inspection, for example, of a solder ball on the back surface of an LSI (semiconductor integrated circuit). The probe with any other configuration is adaptable to a wide variety of applications.
As general techniques related to such the probes, techniques disclosed in the following Patent documents 1 through 3 are known.
[Patent document 1] JP 2000-227444 A
[Patent document 2] JP 2000-346897 A
[Patent document 3] JP 11-51970 A